Frits van Amersfoort, Liam Lawson’s team boss from his debut ADAC Formula 4 season, has called for the Kiwi to replace Sergio Perez “right away”, having impressed since replacing Daniel Ricciardo.
Lawson’s first season competing in a European F4 series came back in 2018, where he competed for Van Amersfoort Racing.
The Red Bull reserve driver finished runner-up in his debut season, after claiming three wins and nine podiums in total.
Van Amersfoort has, therefore, known for a very long time that Lawson is an undeniably talented driver, who is also mentally very strong.
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Lawson proved this after replacing Ricciardo from Free Practice 3 onwards at the Dutch Grand Prix, following the Australian’s crash in the earlier practice session which fractured a metacarpal in his left hand.
The 21-year-old went onto remain in Ricciardo’s seat up until the conclusion of the Qatar Grand Prix, with the eight-time race winner set to return to his cockpit at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Despite AlphaTauri’s AT04 being the worst car on the grid, Lawson settled into it and into Formula 1 quicker than anyone could’ve imagined.
He remarkably progressed to Q3 in Singapore and went onto finish ninth in the race at the Marina Bay Circuit, on just his second full Grand Prix appearance.
Lawson was an immediate match for Yuki Tsunoda, convincing many that the Kiwi would be given the Japanese driver’s seat for 2024.
Instead, Lawson will remain as Red Bull’s reserve driver next season, much to the disappointment of many.
Incredibly, Van Amersfoort believes Lawson shouldn’t even need to wait for a seat at the Red Bull sister outfit and should instead go straight into the factory team to replace Perez.
The Dutchman isn’t surprised at all that Lawson made an instant impact and thinks he’s the ideal driver to take Perez’s spot.
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“I did expect that, I thought he could do it because he is mentally well suited to it,” Van Amersfoort said, as reported by The Mirror.
When asked if the Kiwi should take Perez’s spot, Van Amersfoort didn’t hesitate in saying: “Right away.”
The Dutchman added: “He starts in the car in the same way as Max. I would dare to do that but my name is not Helmut, nor do I have the resources Helmut has at his disposal.
“But I would rather do that than someone who brings only history. Liam can only do well, in my opinion.”